The New Brennan

[Phil G]

Looking forward to buying the new Brennan. Ideal for our trips into France with our music and radio. Is it likely to be out this year?

[RaymondO]

Supposedly next month (August), but as you’ll see from the thread - apart from the initial limited info, there has been a myriad of questions from those seeking clarification but Martin hadn’t responded to any of them!

[PMB]

Hi Phil and RaymondO,

As you can imagine it's a very busy time leading up to releasing a new product. Please keep an eye on our web site for further news and release date.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[RaymondO]

Will that be when our questions are answered, when the beta units go out, or we see them on retail sale? 🤗😉😇

[PMB]

Hi All,

I have been using a pre-production unit for a while and am able to tell you this about it.

The USB C connector is for power input (only)

The on board storage uses a micro SD Card

The WUI is essentially the same as the B2

The colour screen allows you to watch YouTube videos

There is one USB port (A format) for connecting an external CD Drive for ripping, USB memory stick/HDD for file transfer - can also play directly off USB device

Two stage Ripping and Compression is same as B2

The unit does not charge the batteries - uses standard AA size

There is no audio output connector

No DAB radio

There are two speakers and an ABR (auxiliary bass radiator)

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

On Friday, July 19, 2019 at 6:01:28 AM UTC-4, PMB wrote:

The on board storage uses a micro SD Card

...

 

There is no audio output connector

1. One card for both the operating system and the music files? 

2. Is the card that holds the music easily swappable?

3. No wired headphone support? Bluetooth headphones?

 

[PMB]

Hi Dennis,

1. I need to ask for confirmation on this point but it appears to be the case

2. The front grill can be removed giving access to the micro SD Card

3. Bluetooth headphones are the only option as there is no dedicated headphones socket

Paul

Brennan Support.

[RaymondO]

As the makers of the Rasberry Pi 4 discovered - powering from USB C can be problematic - does the baby Brennan make the same mistake, or is it agnostic to any C power supply?

I DO like the idea of twin speakers, however is this still mono-only playback/

Did the dongle arrive back safely? 🤓

[Mark Fishman]

>> There is no audio output connector

Well, that's a non-starter, then. Sorry to hear that. I've had my share of music sources that couldn't be connected reliably (or at all) to other amps/speakers/cars/dacs etc., and will not buy another. I even once refused to buy a receiver that lacked a headphone jack.

Thanks for the info.

[PMB]

Hi RaymondO,

I'm assuming the USB C connector is on the Raspberry Pi board (haven't pulled my unit apart yet but itching to do so) and as far as I can tell it's for power only.

It sounds like the speakers are stereo but are too close for any real stereo imaging.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[RaymondO]

It is indeed Paul - it seems the Pi folk skimped on the resister network as pard of the power feed, meaning only the official brick would correctly supply it - other C cables looked like an accessory. Still on track for the August launch ?

[PMB]

Hi RaymondO,

The power supply I have for the 'new brennan' looks like a fairly generic 5V supply, definitely not R Pi branded.

I know Martin has pressed the 'production' button but I have no update on when these may be available.

Paul

Brennan Support.